undergrounds | upon the hill he'll hear my secrets -- open post for october

"Thanks," Caroline says, turning her hand to squeeze Nancy's back. "I still sometimes can't believe she's really gone. Mom was the sheriff of Mystic Falls and seemed invincible, even with all the crazy things that could happen. But I guess none of us are."

She takes a long, deep breath, before continuing with the worst of it. "So things were bad. And the worst part was that I managed to drag Stefan down with me. He's a ... I don't know if you call it the same thing here, but he calls himself a ripper. When he drinks human blood, he just loses control. And so when he tried to get through to me, tried to stop him, I forced him to join me instead."

She pauses again, knowing she has to admit this last part but fearing what it means. She knows Nancy is involved with vampires but still. This could be a lot to take in.

"I don't know how many people died because of the two of us. I should but I just couldn't face figuring it out. And while that was happening, the two of us, well, the feelings may have been pushed aside but our basic attraction wasn't and so we hooked up. And then, when it was finally over and I realized what we'd done, what I'd done, I just couldn't look at him any more. And that's the point where I packed up my bags and flew across an ocean to get away from my troubles."

She looks over at Nancy nervously. "I told you there was quite a story."

Wow. Wow. That was a lot to take in, and heavy. But she wasn't going to hold it against her. Not in her line of work, not with the life she lived. Cooper had killed how many people in his life time? And it was far longer than Caroline's. Her ex was a murderer as well, and half of her clients, too.

She had to do what she had to do, and while she wished it hadn't come down to killing people, she wasn't surprised. Nor was she surprised that she'd chosen to hook up with Stefan again. Blood and sex ran so close together, and she knew it better than most.

"I'm glad you're safe." She says at last. "And, it seems, doing better."

"Yeah, well, it's hard to do much worse than that."

Caroline felt very drained now, in a good, cathartic way. She knew these scars were going to stay with her for a long time but they felt a little less heavy, now that she knew she could share them, with the right people.

Nancy, if she wanted, could have given her a run for her money. But it wasn't a contest. Suffering was never a contest. And it wasn't the time or the place for it. Besides, hse'd rather keep the gory details of her life private.

"You can only go up from here," she reminds her.

Caroline let out a sigh that turns into a laugh. "That's true. And really, I think I've been doing quite well here. I found a nice little apartment - or should I saw a nice little flat. I got a job that I enjoy. And I've been a very good little vampire. Well, good by my standards, though the people in charge might not agree."

It annoys her that indiscriminate feeding and killing seems to be encouraged these days. Not only is it not something she wants to partake in but it also made being a vampire in London that much more difficult.

"Yeah, flat, there, you're picking up the language." She teased her, smiling fondly.

"Your standards are the only ones that really matter," she says kindly, wishing that she could take the advice to heart herself.

Caroline managed a smile. "Just don't expect me to start talking about jumpers and trousers and using the lift."

She's not sure she can agree about whose standards matter. She'd like it if hers were the only one but it doesn't really seem like the rest of the world would play alone.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Nancy lifts her drink and takes a nice, slow sip.

"Keep the American thing going- I bet loads of boys find it attractive around here."

"Just what I need, more boys," she replies, with a grin. "Actually, the most luck I've had so far was with another American. I guess we just naturally group together, with a refrain in our heads saying the British are coming."

"But enough about me, how are you doing these days?" Caroline's read the paper and knows what it said about Nancy. She's not sure if she should bring it up though.

Nancy shakes her head. "Yeah? What's his name? I've known a few Americans around here." Kyle, Stiles and Derek way back when, Arthur. All of them were American.

"Me? Well-" other than being pardoned, but she didn't really want to talk about that. Nancy glances over her shoulder, than back to Caroline with a huge grin on her face. "I'm moving in with Cooper! I was staying with him, but we decided to make it official." They liked having someone with each other. "I forgot how much I missed having someone to sleep with."

Like, physically sleep.

"Kyle. I ran into him at a bar one night and well, I had a good time at least. That was a couple months ago now, not much to report since."

At least one of them had some good news on the relationship front. "Wow, that's great!" She was pretty sure Nancy meant physically sleeping with someone. Especially given her job.

"Kyle." That was such a common name, but she had been around long enough to know there was no such thing as coincidence.

"Really attractive, washboard abs, eagle tattoo?" She asks. Because if it's Kyle Sutton, this was going to change everything.

Caroline raises an eyebrow. "Sound about right. Ex-military?" If Nancy really did know Kyle, then maybe London was a much world and she had believed.

Oh god, if Nancy did know Kyle, Caroline hopes it wasn't because of work.

"Kyle Sutton," she says with a smirk. "yeah, I know him. He's a lovely fellow, really." She and him were friends, he'd offered her a place to stay at one point, but their differing views on vampires had made it quite clear that no, they were never going to be able to live together.

Then she realizes exactly what that sounds like.

"He's just a friend," she tells her quickly. "That's all- does- does he know you're a vampire?" If he did, she was going to be furious. If he didn't... Well, that was just a delicious bit of irony, then, wasn't it?

"No, we didn't exactly spend the time talking about things like that. Or talking at all, really," she adds with a laugh.

So, definitely a small world. But at least he wasn't a client or anything like that. "So, how do you know him?"

Nancy gives her a knowing nod. She knows that look. "Well, good. I'm glad t'hear it." It would have gone very, very badly if he'd found out she was a vampire. As absolutely hilarious as it was for her, too.

"We ran into each other at a party. There was a bit of a fight and I told him I'd patch him right up. Done it a few times since." She doesn't mind helping him out.

Somehow it didn't surprise Caroline to learn that Kyle was the type to get into bar fights. He had a bit of a look to him - which if she was being honest, she had quite liked. "What was the fight about?"

"We were both at this party," she explains, "turns out the whole thing was a trap for this nest to eat. We escaped, but he'd gotten hurt." It was a simple explanation.

A trap for the nest to eat. Great, just freaking great. "God, no wonder people hate vampires." Of course, given what she just told Nancy, it's not like Caroline has that much moral high ground at the moment.

"So wait, does that mean Kyle knows about all the vampire stuff?" If that was true, her world has just gotten even smaller.

Nancy nods. Time for the other shoe to drop. "He's a hunter." She won't tell her anything about the wolf bite- that's not necessary, and not hers to share.

Oh. Oh god.

For a moment, she just stares blankly, as she realizes how dangerous things could have gotten. "Maybe it's a good thing I never heard from him again."

"Yeah. He, ah... Hates Cooper. It was a bit of a sore spot." He'd left his apartment when he'd found out she was dating a vampire. Which, now that she thought about it, was a total dick move.

"I don't think he'd do anything, if you didn't do anything to deserve it." She really freaking hoped.

"That leaves the question though, what would it take for me to deserve it."

Maybe she was better off just hanging out with other members of the Nest. At least they wouldn't surprise like this and she'd met a few who were quite attractive.

Nancy makes a face. "Well, he's off back in the US, so I think we'll never have to find out."

That would explain why the promised chocolate never appeared. It was definitely for the best though.

"Okay. We need a nice, happy topic. What's your new place like?" Hopefully the Marquess of Hackney lived somewhere appropriate for the fancy title.

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